Shopping Discussion

The Brick Card is a scam

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Deal Addict
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Aug 16, 2009
1574 posts
476 upvotes
Snicla wrote: I heard capital one is a scam as well.
If anything Capital One is the greatest Credit Card I have ever had.
I have the No Annual free + Low interest card. My rate for the last 6 months has been 3.15%.

I fail to see how a Credit Card can be classified as a "scam"
No one put a gun to your head and told you to get one. Read
the Terms and Conditions in advance to avoid the headaches.

Some of the RFD'ers are right, if you can't afford something in cash,
then you shouldn't be buying on credit. (Exception for Cars, Houses, Small Caribbean Islands)
Member
Jul 18, 2007
448 posts
71 upvotes
Sorry dude, you borrowed their credit and are stuck with the conditions you signed off on, this does not equate to a scam.
Deal Addict
Mar 11, 2008
1281 posts
39 upvotes
Langley
As long as the terms and conditions are within Canadian laws then its not a scam. People need to learn to take responsibility for their actions. If you don't like the terms and conditions you should not have signed up for the service. I am sure that there would be outrage if the credit company suddenly decided they did not want to honor their end of the agreement and changed the terms they committed to so why do people think it is OK for the consumer to try to get out of their commitments?
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Nov 27, 2006
1029 posts
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I actually have good experience from The Brick, not the credit card, just the store.

2 times I've bought from them, no hassles or anything. 1st purchase was a tent sale, clearance item. We were worried the sofa would not fit in the small opening to our basement, just the way it was designed makes it difficult for large objects to go into the basement. So we asked if we could return it if it didn't fit. Salesman said no problem. Remember this was clearance, so technically it is final sale. It didn't fit in our basement, and we returned it no problems, they delivered and picked up the sofa. The only thing I paid for was my time. Was not charged for anything for the return and delivery.

2nd time I bought a furniture set, which I normally would not do, but where I work they have a corporate agreement and we buy through corporate not thorugh the store. We went to a store, the set regular price was $1650, they had a sale so that you could get the set for $1300, I ended up paying $850. Not bad for an entire bedroom set...

The Brick still has my business for now.
Member
User avatar
Jun 19, 2008
452 posts
15 upvotes
Toronto
Sazafraz wrote: Yeah, I will never shop at the Brick again. They are all a bunch of shady people trying to rip you off.

My parents bought a couch set from there + TV...what a nightmare. We told the sales person we were done and we wanted to check out. He comes back and on the quotation it had to couches at double the price. We were all like "wtf?" and he tries to fool us by saying "well, you see sir, I had no idea that we were out of stock for these couches so you have to buy the floor model". Since when is the floor model double the price?! If anything it should be reduced, like any other store would do since other people sat on it and what not. We complained and told him that we weren't going to do business with him, my dad shook his hand and we were on our way out. Just before we exit the place we hear "SIR! WAIT!", we come back and he says "I will talk to the manager and see what he can do". The manager comes and didn't have a problem with reducing the price of the couch below sale price, so we decided to buy it and just get the hell outta there.

This literally took the whole day and the problems still never stopped. We had to go back there because they were charging us for random stuff, trying to get every penny out of us.

AVOID THE BRICK!
That's ridiculous! :mad:
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2008
1942 posts
1109 upvotes
cOmAtOaSt wrote: My brother looks at it and sees a $150 "administration fee". He asks the guy "what is this fee on here for?" "Oh, if you sign up for the no interest plan we charge an admin fee for that". As the others have said, you really have to read the fine print these days.
Ah yes, the "new math".

I remember when zero percent financing on cars was just being introduced. My dad wanted to buy a new van, so we visited one of the dealers. The vehicle price was listed on the sticker as, say, $25,000. My dad asked, "So, I get 0% financing on that?" They said "Oh, no sir, $25,000 is the cash price. If you want the 0% financing, the price $29,000."

I said, "So it's not really 0% financing then, if you're still paying $4,000 more for the car." The salesman looked at me like I was some dumb kid, and started going on about how, yes, absolutely it was 0% financing, and no, you're not really paying more, because...

Sure, play semantics all you want, but the bottom line is that financing still costs more than cash, and to me that's not "0% financing". It's just tricky math.
Deal Addict
Sep 10, 2007
2732 posts
1 upvote
Shaner wrote: Ok, it's not literally a scam, but it is pretty shady to say the least.

I bought a couch and a loveseat using my Brick Card. It came to $900. I couldn't really afford to pay cash at the time, so I financed it through the Brick. No big deal right?

A short time later I got a good vacuum for about $200. Also put that on my Brick card. Why not, that's what it is there for.

I got my first Brick card bill a few months ago and it had monthly finance charges for both purchases. It didn't have a single interest charge based on my total balance, it had a "revolving finance charge" for each purchase on my card. The vacuum had a charge of like $15 and that couch/loveseat had a charge of like $50. I figured this was a one time thing. I was wrong.

The next month, the same thing. Two separate finance charges. At this point I thought to myself "holy crap, I gotta pay this card off."

I threw a couple hundred dollars on the card. I figured that would pay off the vacuum and eliminate at least one of the monthly finance charges. So the next month rolls around and I get another bill. I still had two separate finance charges. The money I put on my card, it applied most of it to my couch and some of it to the vacuum.

I called Brick and told them that I wanted all future payments to be applied to the vacuum first, then applied to the couch. They said I can't do that. All payments are split up and applied to both of my purchases. I basically told the person on the phone that they are running a shady operation because until my balance is at $0, I will continue to be hit with two different finance charges every month. The person on the other line said there is nothing they can do. So I said "that's fine, just don't expect my business ever again. I'll go to Leons from now on."

Now, I know this is my responsibility. I accepted their terms by signing up for the card, but my god, I never expected this type of shady crap. I just assumed I would be hit with interest charges, but no, they hit me with huge finance charges instead. Not only that, but I can't choose which purchase I want to pay off in order to eliminate one of those monthly finance charges.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to pay it all off immediately and never shop with the Brick again. It's my own fault I guess, but the Brick is going to be the one who suffers in the long run as they will never get my business again.
Good!. But to have more of an impact, tell your friends and family, and have them tell their friends and family...that way, they hopefully lose more business then just yours.
Would you be willing to pay $58 more for an iPod produced in North America?

My Answer: NO. I get the same Ipod with the same functionality...where is the the benefit to me? As, I've said before, I will get more out of my $58 dollars by lighting it on fire, because it will produce heat. If I wipe my a$$ with that $58 dollars, I will need to buy less toilet paper. IF I buy the made in North America Ipod for $58 more, I get absolutely nothing more out of it.
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May 25, 2009
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GreyingJay wrote: Ah yes, the "new math".

I remember when zero percent financing on cars was just being introduced. My dad wanted to buy a new van, so we visited one of the dealers. The vehicle price was listed on the sticker as, say, $25,000. My dad asked, "So, I get 0% financing on that?" They said "Oh, no sir, $25,000 is the cash price. If you want the 0% financing, the price $29,000."

I said, "So it's not really 0% financing then, if you're still paying $4,000 more for the car." The salesman looked at me like I was some dumb kid, and started going on about how, yes, absolutely it was 0% financing, and no, you're not really paying more, because...

Sure, play semantics all you want, but the bottom line is that financing still costs more than cash, and to me that's not "0% financing". It's just tricky math.
Every time I hear or see the phrase "prices as low as..." or "introductory prices of..." I hear alarm bells go off in my head!

And yes, sticker price is typically the cash price, once you do financing or leasing its a whole new ball game, then they try to pressure you to tack on all these extras you probably won't need for even more $$.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
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Oct 1, 2008
1942 posts
1109 upvotes
Winkle wrote: And yes, sticker price is typically the cash price, once you do financing or leasing its a whole new ball game, then they try to pressure you to tack on all these extras you probably won't need for even more $$.
Which is counterintuitive to me. They should WANT you to finance with them since they make money on the financing (well, perhaps not so much at 0%).
Newbie
Jun 14, 2010
1 posts
peterborough
Actually it is not a scam, when you signed up for the card you also signed up for the pertection payment plan which charges you a $1.19 per $100 that you spend on your brick card monthly. You would have been told this and you would have had to sign for this serperately otherwise you would have not had it added on to your card and you would not have been getting those charges. Next time you sign up for something pay attention to what you are getting and what you are signing as you are the only one responsible for your own mistakes.
As for not being able to put the money towards the vaccum, no the brick store can do that for as they are just the store and the brick card is actually through a credit card company called citi financial or hsbc depending on whether your card numbers start with a 60 or a 19. The number you can to call to have your payment paid directly to a certain item is on the back of your card.
As for canceling the pertection payment plan you can go into the brick and fill out a form and they will fax it to the credit company to be removed or you can call the number on the back of the card.
Deal Fanatic
Feb 26, 2008
5135 posts
55 upvotes
MBNA is a scam too.

If you want to use a credit cheque even for .10 it will cost $7 in fees
Also balance transfers; fee of $7

MBNA sends me stupid credit cheques every week almost, and I always run to the paper shredder to dispose of them.

Other cards like Royal visa never have any fees.

MBNA also they hate it if you use another banks credit card cheques to pay off your card.
I wanted to pay off $1,000 on my card and they kept on sending me back my payment- even tho my cheques were valid.
i even called them to say I just wanted to pay off the card and keep it open.

They then tried to charge me with nonpayment- even though they were refusing to apply my payments.
I almost took them to court for this.

I actually had some government agency involved in this (whatever the banking one is...this was a while ago)

MBNA ended up having to pay me all the back interest as well :)
I still have a MBNA card and never use it.

Also, their dept that hires for their ottawa office, they are kind of liars too.
But that is another post later....
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Jan 30, 2007
3036 posts
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Surrey
Bookpreviews wrote: ...
I still have a MBNA card and never use it.
Then you're killing your credit rating. If you don't plan on using it, cancel the account to clear up your credit file.
Sr. Member
Dec 4, 2007
694 posts
3 upvotes
Montreal
iamnotamerican.com wrote: Then you're killing your credit rating. If you don't plan on using it, cancel the account to clear up your credit file.
This is wrong. One should keep old credit cards - they improve your credit score.
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Jan 30, 2007
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Surrey
P1x44r wrote: This is wrong. One should keep old credit cards - they improve your credit score.
I definitely beg to differ.

Credit cards count as available credit. Too much available credit hurts your score. If you have a card you're not using, let's say with a $10k limit, then there is $10k of credit that is considered into your debt maintenance calculations.

Having a card with minimal credit, using it occasionally and paying it off is a good thing. Having a card and not using it doesn't benefit you at all, except if it's your oldest credit card. In this case, it essentially helps to expands your credit history.
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Jul 16, 2004
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iamnotamerican.com wrote: I definitely beg to differ.

Credit cards count as available credit. Too much available credit hurts your score. If you have a card you're not using, let's say with a $10k limit, then there is $10k of credit that is considered into your debt maintenance calculations.

Having a card with minimal credit, using it occasionally and paying it off is a good thing. Having a card and not using it doesn't benefit you at all, except if it's your oldest credit card. In this case, it essentially helps to expands your credit history.
Too much credit does not affect your credit score unless that too much credit has high balances. Having 6-7 credit cards on file with no balances and spotless history keeps your score high. And as P1X44R is right, keeping them and not using them improves your credit score. Why? Because they are considered "old established" trades on your credit file. It shows that you are not actively seeking credit as you are more than happy sitting on what you have and not applying for more. Yes, it sounds odd but as I said, high balances, especially when you go over limit, drives the credit score down (along with delinquency, new credit inquiries and brand new credit on file.)

Believe me I know. I've read a lot of credit bureaus in my lifetime. :)
Newbie
Dec 17, 2013
1 posts
Exactly as same as mine. That's the biggest scam company. I have a commitment of no interest, no payment for 15 months with Brick credit. But after 5 months, they charge me interest and ask me pay the wrong bills. I called to Brick customer services, they told me that's the computer mistake. But now they not fix that, and then the TD financial service call me 0r 4 times per day to request me make the payment. Crazy, some be-hide between TD and Brick. That's really scam!!!!
Newbie
Jan 5, 2017
1 posts
1 upvote
Yes the brick are cheats. I read all the reviews before i bought anything from them so i thought i would be more carefull with whatever i sign. So got the brick card and purchased some items that were on sale. I asked the sales persorn like 6 timmes no other fees. He tried selling me aal these other things like insurance warranty etc i said No No No. They gave me 18 months without interest i asked again that ok does that mean my balance will remain the same with no other charge adding on the principal they said yes. After a few months i realised the balance was increasing and i contacted thema and they were charging me insurance which i never requested. I cancelled immediately but still have to pay 500 dollars more in accumulated insurance charges and they said they can not reverse that.

IF YOU CAN STAY AWAY FROM THE BRICK ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS TRICKING YOU INTO PAYING SOME CHARGES YOU DO NOT KNOW ABOUT
Deal Addict
Apr 10, 2017
3047 posts
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Ok let me get this straight:

1. to avoid getting the miscellaneous "charges" you ought to buy and pay for your items 1-by-1? I see this as a hassle when you need multiple items immediately, but what if you just want a fridge that you can't just pay off now but can pay it off within 2 years?

2. are you then just better of getting a line of credit at a low rate (assuming you have good credit) and pay the Brick upfront and pay your LOC? At least with LOC you know what you're paying for and there's no surprises unless you don't pay it off

Am I correct?
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Aug 22, 2006
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Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
Newbie
Nov 17, 2016
5 posts
I was reading somewhere else that there are new laws for credit cards that if you pay an amount on your credit card it must go on the highest interest portion first, sor I am wondering if the brick has changed the way there card works?

Asking because I see the original post is from 2005, also I use the 24 month payment on my Canadian tire card and it works well, it will list the min due, this is the equal payment plus the min of any thing else I put on the card, and list balance due this is the equal payment amount plus the full balance of anything else I buy.

So as long as I pay the full balance due I don't pay interest.

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